Has anyone got an e-reader, purchased in the US or elsewhere? If yes, which? If no, have you considered it? What are some of the glitches you have encountered?

I currently work for a large US bookstore chain, and of course we sell an e-reader. I'm thinking about buying one, but can't decide which one would be most practical for my live OUTSIDE the US. Having bought and then sold entire personal libraries between international moves in the past (most recently, I had to leave books behind in the UK that I cannot find here in the US, even secondhand) and the idea of keeping my library in my carry-on is quite appealing, let me tell you!

But I'm not sure which e-reader would be the most practical for my life. Really I'm comparing between the Barnes & Noble nook, the Amazon Kindle, and the Sony e-reader. An iPad is out of my price range, and I don't fancy buying another computer anyway.

I think I am leaning toward a nook. It's not the best, but I am pretty sure it meets all my needs, and it's not a kindle, which I'm not really leaning toward. Especially after what I've read elsewhere about how delicate the screens are.

I've been thinking of getting an e-reader as, once I'm finally in a non-English-speaking country, English books should be considerably harder to find. However I'm unwilling to buy e-books. An e-reader is useful for carrying a lot of books, but it's my opinion that e-books themselve are a bad deal. Why should I pay for an electronic book that I read where electronic devices are prohibited, lend (The Nook's "lending" feature is a joke), can't buy used, and can't resell? On the other hand, Project Gutenberg has a whole slew of public domain books, and they're all in the ePub format. If I buy an e-reader, it'll be to buy free public domain books, unless someone decides to, say, market out-of-print titles really cheaply.

When I Googled to find out why, Amazon's Kindle doesn't handle ePub, the Internet consensus seems to be that Amazon doesn't want to lose market share by A. letting non-Kindle books be sold on the Kindle and B. Making it easy to switch e-readers. They don't sell ePub books for the same reason. So it's a good deal for Amazon, and as long as Amazon has majority market share, it works. No matter where you go though it will be easier to transfer your collection on any e-reader that's not the Kindle.

I'm wary of buying and having to carry around a device that does only one thing. In this case, store/display books.

I take it you don't have an mp3 player? I'd mention cellphones too, but since I mainly use mine as a pocketwatch, that's probably a bad example.

Quote:

A laptop/netbook can serve as an ebook reader and more. Amazon makes Kindle software available as a free download. Another free alternative is Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com).

I hate reading anything of length on a backlit computer screen. I don't really like the idea of an e-reader period, when paper books are available, but e-ink is definitely much less inclined to eye strain. I agree that getting an ebook reader without e-ink is completely pointless.

I have an iPod Shuffle, but only because it was a holiday gift. However, I have come to rely on it a lot as my daily commute often requires me to be in a very crowded subway car where reading is not convenient. I like to listen to news and educational podcasts. I don't wear a watch, but I do own a cheap cell phone. I keep it turned off most of the time. I use it to call my wife when I'm running late or to see if she wants me to stop by the market to buy something on my way home.

I suppose the main point I wanted to make was that netbooks cost about the same as ebook readers and give the user more functionality. You can't write email from a Kindle but can read an ebook on a netbook. Of course, it all depends on personal preference and finances.

Today I saw an advertisement for wi-fi Kindles for US$138. That's considerably less than the cost of a netbook. I'm rethinking my earlier post.

You can get some netbooks for less than $300. I mean, that's still twice the price, but it's less than the $400+ ones you see advertised.

I'd still recommend against getting a Kindle. There's nothing it can do that other, comparably priced, e-readers can't and it comes with a number of anti-features designed to lock in Amazon's marketshare.

I'd still recommend against getting a Kindle. There's nothing it can do that other, comparably priced, e-readers can't and it comes with a number of anti-features designed to lock in Amazon's marketshare.

~Q

Q, that is honestly my concern about buying a kindle. I'm leaning toward a nook, mainly because I can get one for about $100 (because I work for the evil corporate empire, of course). But I am concerned about its usability overseas and would REALLY like to hear an international review of the device.

I'm considering a Kindle, although it won't be for anything class-related. Reason? My students won't be able to afford it, so why should I ask them to use one? Plus, there is no way I can justify a budget request for several hundred of them per year. Let students use their own PCs or netbooks or (for the rich) iPhones and iPods.

Glenski, I can't imagine getting an e-reader for classroom use. It seems that for the most part, other teachers are also discussing e-readers for personal use. It might be nice in the future to get e-readers for classrooms, but I don't think that time will be coming soon...

I bought a Kindle on a trip back the US in September. Quite happy with it. Buying English books can get expensive in Japan and, regardless of geographical location, books take up a lot of space. They are also heavy to move and expensive to ship around. My Kindle holds some 1,500 books or so. Great purchase.

I have a Kindle 3rd gen. I was reading off the ipod Touch but suffered eyestrain after a while.

The main draws for me were:

1. Kindle support as most of my favourite titles are in Kindle format;
2. Syncing between platforms, so I can read on my PC when I'm in a fixed location for a while;
3. FREE WORLDWIDE 3G. This is the main draw for me. The web browser is clumsy, but I can still check e-mail, Facebook, news, weather and sport if I'm patient, which alone will save me a fortune when overseas in countries with 3G/GPRS access. Also means I can view, download and purchase books without syncing via PC.
4. You can convert epub to Kindle using the calibre software, which gets around the proprietary issue. I haven't done this yet so don't know what the end result is like.
5. Extensive battery life when not using 3g. 3 weeks and counting.

I'm using it for my Buddhist studies at the moment. One volume alone is 2,800 pages, which as far as I'm aware was Kindle only, the book can be searched, highlighted and bookmarked for instant retrieval. This alone has justified the unit for me.